The Boston Red Sox system is bursting at the seams with prospects on the mound and in the infield. With the trade deadline a little over a week away, the buzz around Boston is which need the Red Sox will go out and trade for. But to get talent, sometimes you need to part ways with talent of your own. There are plenty around the diamond the Boston Red Sox need to fix. One position that doesn’t need a fix up is the shortstop position. Regardless of what moves the Boston brain trust make (i.e. bringing back Stephen Drew), the shortstop of the future is still going to be Xander Bogaerts.

Even so, the Red Sox have another up-and-coming player in the same position in the minors in Devin Marrero.

Unlike Bogaerts, Marrero is a shortstop with more of a defensive flare than his bat. However in 2014 his stock was rapidly rising to the point where he could make the big leagues if there is an injury to Bogaerts or Drew. But before we get ahead of ourselves, first let’s get to know Mr. Marrero a little better.

Background

Devin Marrero was originally drafted in the 17th round by the Cincinnati Reds back in 2009 out of American Heritage High School in Florida. However Marerro did not sign with the Reds and instead went to play college baseball at Arizona State. He ended up getting drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2012 with the 24th pick overall and signed a multi-year deal worth $2.075 million. Marrero immediately got into the fray that same year over at Short-A with the Lowell Spinners. He ended up playing 64 games with the Spinners, hitting .268 (66-for-246) with 19 XBH, 2 HR, and 24 RBIs.

Then in 2013, things started to take off for Marerro. Going into the season, he was ranked the No. 10 prospect in the Red Sox organization and got a Spring Training invite. He then started the year in Advanced Single-A with the Salem Red Sox and played 85 games with them before getting called up to play 19 games at Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Overall, he hit .252 (102-for-404) with 22 XBH, 2 HR, and 26 RBIs. Marerro also stole 27 bases out of 29 chances (93.1%) and also had an OBP of .338, slugging % of .317, and OPS of .655. On the defensive side of the plate, Marerro had 166 putouts, 337 assists, help convert 66 double-plays and only committed 6 errors, and had a fielding percentage of .988 (503-for-509) in 104 games at shortstop.

The 2014 Season

At the beginning of the 2014 season, Marrero was ranked No. 11 among Red Sox prospects by MLB.com and ranked No. 5 among Red Sox prospects according to SoxProspects.com. He started the season at Double-A Portland, playing in 68 games with the Sea Dogs as he hit .291 (78-for-268) with 26 XBH, 2 HR, 39 RBI. Marrero also stole 12 bases out of 19 attempts (63.2%), had an OBP of .371, slugging % of .433, and an OPS of .804.

In the field, Marrero played 66 games at the shortstop position (2 games he played at DH), getting 87 putouts, 178 assists, helped convert 36 double plays, committed 6 errors, and had a fielding percentage of .978 (265-for-271).

Then earlier this month on July 2, Marrero got the call up to play at Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. In 11 games before the All-Star Break, Marrero was batting .326 (14-for-43) with 4 XBH, 0 HR, and 8 RBIs. He also stole just 1 base and had an OBP of .356, slugging % of .419, and OPS of .774. Marrero played at shortstop for all 11 games, getting 19 putouts, 38 assists, 0 errors, and helped convert 8 double-plays for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage (57-for-57).

After the All-Star Break, it was back to business against the Buffalo Bison on July 17. Marrero ended up going 0-for-3 in that game with one walk and struck out once. He also played shortstop in the game, recording 1 putout and grabbing 4 assists in a 5-2 victory for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Outlook

By comparison, he’s like former Red Sox prospect Jose Iglesias. However Marerro can hit the ball just a little bit better than Iglesias. The logical thing for Red Sox management to do would be to keep Marerro at Triple-A Pawtucket for another year for him to work on his swinging mechanics to gain some more power in his bat. That way they can have a fall back plan in case something happened to Xander Bogaerts in Boston instead of making a desperation signing (i.e. the Stephen Drew signing)However if a team came to the Red Sox and was willing to make a

trade, it won’t be a surprise that Marerro’s name gets thrown into the pool of prospects the Red Sox will send away. Though raw right now, he has the potential of being a 5-tool player in the majors.

The question though would be what to do with him. Hopefully we'll see more of Marerro down the road in a Sox uniform.